OTTOVILLE – Fittingly on senior night it was senior Josh Thorbahn who provided the biggest performance of the night by connecting on a school record eight three point goals to help Ottoville fend off Minster 63-59 Saturday evening.
Minster jumped out to an early 7-0 first quarter lead on baskets by Johnny Nixon, Bryan Falk, and a three pointer by Brady Hoelscher that would force the Big Green to take a timeout with 5:07 to go in the first. Unfortunately for the host Big Green, Minster continued to run away in the opening frame on the scoreboard on a make by Justin Nixon to 12-2.
Thorbahn’s first points of the game got Ottoville on the scoreboard at 7-2 with 4:40 and represented the first of his 13 points in the first stanza. After the lone basket to not come from him in the first, Thorbahn pushed the hosts into the lead 15-14 with :22 before the horn sounded to end the quarter.
Having already hit for five during the Wildcats run in the first period, Minster senior Bryan Falk paced his squad in the second period by connecting on a shot from deep on the way to 10 second quarter markers to keep the score in his teams favor.
With the two teams trading baskets and leads in the second, Thorbahn tied the game on a pair of occasions at 16-16 and 28-28 to finish off the five first half three pointers he accounted for on the way to 22 points in the first two quarters.
Justin Nixon provided the last basket before the half for Minster with :23 to keep the Wildcats on top 32-28 at the buzzer to cap off a 4-0 run and keep his squad on top.
Both squads continued to battle and trade leads in the third quarter similarly to the end of the first half as threes by Brady Hoelscher, and Falk gave the Wildcats a 37-30 lead early and helped to send the game into the final eight minutes with Minster on top 47-45.
Though the score had largely been affected by three point goals, free throws became the way to score in the fourth quarter for the Big Green as they attempted to mount a comeback thanks to William Miller and Ryan Suever who teamed up to connect on 7 of 9 from the line in the stanza.
Josh Thorbahn’s eighth three pointer of the game with 5:36 tied the game at 49-49 and broke the school record for made threes in a single contest, breaking the previous record of seven by Steve Looser against Miller City in 1992, and Logan Kemper in 2018 against Minster.
Senior Jack Langhals pushed Ottoville into the lead at 50-49 on the next Big Green possession by connecting on one of two from the free throw line as part of his four points in the last 6:15 of the game.
Brady Hoelscher tied the game on a three pointer for Minster with 4:18 to go at 52-52 and helped teammate Justin Nixon to tie the game at 54-54 with 2:43 remaining in regulation, and ultimately with his own free throws for a 56-56 tie.
Ottoville snagged a 58-56 advantage with 1:24 left on a basket from Suever and found themselves able to secure the victory on free throws by Miller despite a late run by the Wildcats who got as close as 61-59 with 12.4 seconds left on an out of bounds lob to Justin Nixon at the rim for a basket.
“Thorbahn was really good tonight, some of the shots he hit were crazy. I thought we battled, this was a good game for us but we missed a few shots late I think if we have again we can make. Ottoville exposed some things we need to get better at” said Minster head coach Mike McClurg after the game.
Big Green boss Keith Utendorf opined on the evening, “I’m so happy for our 10 seniors who have done so much for our program. To have all of them be a part of the victory tonight and have the opportunity to continue to play through everything going on is so meaningful. Credit Minster, they are a great team that was certainly ready for us and played so well. Coach McClurg does such a good job preparing and developing the kids in his program, it was such a good high school basketball game to be a part of. Minster is going to do some great things over the course of the year.”
Next up for the Wildcats (5-3) is a Tuesday evening home MAC tilt against Delphos St. Johns before a trip to Rockford on Friday to battle Parkway.
Ottoville (7-2) will host Delphos Jefferson in a non-conference clash on Monday evening before welcoming PCL rival Pandora Gilboa to town on Saturday night.
Box Score:
Ottoville (63):
William Miller 8
Kyle Manns 8
Ryan Suever 7
Grant Kortokrax 2
Kellen Schlagbaum 1
Josh Thorbahn 33
Jack Langhals 4
FG: 21/52
3PT: 9/24 (Thorbahn 8, Langhals)
FT: 12/21
TO: 7
Minster (59):
Eric Schmidt 2
Bryan Falk 18
Brady Hoelscher 15
Johnny Nixon 9
Josh Niekamp 1
Justin Nixon 14
FG: 24/42
3PT: 6/11 (Falk 3, Hoelscher 3)
FT: 6/12
TO: 14
JV: Ottoville 48-15